Ball controlled register



March 17, 1953 s BRANNER 2,631,780

BALL CONTROLLED REGISTER Filed Sept. 12, 1949 INVENTOR. jazzzaellaza/zrzer Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES arrest GFFiCE 2,631,780 BALL CONTROLLED nnars'rna Samuel Branner, Chicago, Ill. I Application September 12, 1949, Serial No. 115,199

1 Claim. (01. 2e5 91) My invention relates to toy basketball games, and more particularly to the registers for the scores therein, as covered in my Patent No. 2,192,- 430, issued March 5, 1940, and one object of the present invention is to provide a register which is automatic.

A further object is to modify the structure in my patent in a simple manner to accomplish the automatic control of the register.

With the above objects in view, and any others which may suggest themselves from the description to follow, a better understanding of the invention may be had by reference t the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. l is a front elevation of the game;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation;

Fig. 3 is an edge view from the right hand side of Fi 1: and

Fig. 4 is an enlargement of a detail in the central bottom portion of Fig. 3.

In accordance with the foregoing, it may be stated that the general structure of the game is the same as in the patent. Thus, 3 is the frontal plate, 5 is the ratchet wheel, 6 the top hanger, the rear hook thereof, Hi the pendent plate, i I the gong, l l' is the pivoted lever, 25 the check pawl, and 4% the control wire.

Whereas the control wire was operated manually in the patented structure, I now employ the pivoted lever H to induce this action. Thus, the control wire at is formed with a rounded bottom bend 5t and continued forwardly in a rising direction as indicated at 52, to terminate with a portion 5d which passes freely through an opening 55 in the lever II. The end portion 55 of the control wire receives an assembled grommet 51, whose threaded shank 58 passes freely in a downward direction thru the opening 55 to receive a nut Ell at its bottom end. The shank 58 is split from the bottom as indicated at E2, in order that the nut 69 may compress the shank as it is screwed upon the same and be retained on the grommet by the tension of its shank. The grommet is bored centrally as indicated at B5 to tightly receive the end portion 54 of the control wire Ml.

The upper portion of the control wire til passes through an arched guide 61 carried by the pendent plate I 0, and also through an S-shaped guide 68 carried by the plate 3. The wire then takes a shallow lateral bend at 1B in the direction of the ratchet wheel, terminating with a side hook T2 opposite the rim of the same. Fig. 3 shows the position of the control wire it under normal conditions, that is, when the game is not being played. Now the lever H is in the horizontal position, and the hook E2 of the control wire is high in relation to the ratchet wheel 5, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The control wire til in the present case is of spring stock; and its tendency is to ride the top of the ratchet wheel in the dotted line position mentioned. Thus, when the lever i I is depressed by the game ball, the hook 12 of the control wire it? pulls down on one tooth of the ratchet wheel, causing the register to advance accordingly, so that the position of the control wire changes to that indicated by full lines in Fig. 2. Now the tendency of the control wire is still to bear against the periphery of the ratchet wheel. However, any chance that the hook 172 may become disengaged from such periphery is counteracted by a vertical rib l5, struck back from the plate 3 in a position adjoining the one occupied by the lowered control wire M. It follows, of course, that the subsequent rise of the lever H will induce the rise of the control wire it; and the above described tendency of the latter will cause its hook to bear against the periphery of the ratchet wheel and assume its top position in readiness for the next registering movement of the wheel.

It will be apparent that a simple mechanism is provided to procure the automatic register action. Thus, the control wire is in a single piece, both as a spring lever, and as a, hook to actuate the ratchet wheel. Further, the wire makes its connection with the lever i i by means of a relatively short bend and a grommet, which is free to adjust itself to the changing angle of the lever. Further, the present improvement makes a direct connection from the frontally positioned lever I! to the control wire 49 in rear of the plate 3 by simply forming the wire with the frontal return bend 59 to connect with the lever, this being made possible by locating the latter on the plate 3 rather than below the same, as in my patent. The game is therefore more simple and compact as a result. Further, the improvement is only slightly in evidence in front of the game, so that it does not amount to an impediment or complication; and its opera-tive portion is fully in back of the game and out of the way. Finally, it is apparent that the improved control is made up of only two major parts, which may be produced at low cost.

While I have described the invention along specified lines, various minor changes or refinements may be made therein without departing from its principle, and I reserve the right to employ all such changes and refinements as may 3 come within the scope and spirit of the appended claim.

I claim:

The combination with a game having a support, a frontal lever depressible relative to the same, and a horizontally-journ'aled ratchet-wheel register carried on the rear side of the support; of a spring control wire depending in rearward direction from the lever and trained upwardly behind the support, the upper end portion of the wire having a side hook over the top of the ratchet wheel and tensioned to normally ride the latter, and the depression of the lever drawin on the control wire and its hook in a manner to impart a part-rotary movement to the re ister, the lever being pivoted horizontally to the support, and a freely-pivotable connection between the lever and the wire to allow for changes 4 in the angular position or the lever, said connection comprising an opening in the lever, and a grommet carried by the control wire and freely disposed in said opening.

SAMUEL BRANNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 146,218 Washburn Jan. 6, 1874 1,156,438 Simpson Oct. 12, 1915 1,185,071 Doebrich May 30, 1916 1,904,034 Walstrom Apr. 18, 1933 2,192,430 Branner Mar. 5, 1940 2,268,690 Aronson Jan. 6, 1942 

